6 Steps to Select and Name the Right Guardians for Your Children—Part 2
Last week, we shared the first part of our series on selecting and naming the right guardians for your children. If you haven’t read it yet, you can do so here. Here in part two, we discuss the final three steps in the process.
4. Narrow Candidate List and Rank Your Choices
When you’ve come up with all the potential candidates for guardian, narrow down the list to your top five people. There’s no guarantee that your ideal candidate(s) will be willing to serve as guardian, so having more than one or two is a practical necessity.
To aide in this process, you should consider things such as who really loves your children and with whom do your kids really feel comfortable? Will this person be physically, mentally, and emotionally able to raise your kids to adulthood? The most important thing is to choose someone, anyone, even if you aren’t 100% sure about them, since you can always select a new guardian later.
Then rank your choices from top choice down to last. Again, backups are critical in case your first choice cannot serve.
When it comes to asking someone to be your child’s guardian, you need to provide crystal-clear guidance about what’s involved. The discussion should cover all your expectations about how you want your kids raised. Speak openly about finances, discipline, education, spirituality, and any needs that are unique to your children.
5. Sit Down with Top Candidates and Discuss What’s Involved
When it comes to asking someone to be your child’s guardian, you need to provide crystal-clear guidance about what’s involved. The discussion should cover all your expectations about how you want your kids raised. Speak openly about finances, discipline, education, spirituality, and any needs that are unique to your children.
Once the discussion is complete, give them a few days to carefully consider the choice, even if they seem immediately gung-ho about doing it. Depending on the age of your kids, this could be a more than decade-long commitment. If they don’t carefully think it over, the responsibility can easily turn into resentment.
6. Legally Document Your Plan
It’s essential to legally document your choice as soon as possible. Verbal commitments mean nothing in the eyes of the law. This is especially true when you name a friend over a family member.
Legally documenting these individual does not have to be a cumbersome task, and definitely not one which you should avoid. When you work with us, we will create not only a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan that includes all the necessary legal documents to ensure the well-being and protection of your children and the assets you’re leaving behind, no matter what happens.
With us as your Personal Family Lawyer®, you’ll have a trusted advisor who can help you navigate all of the legal, insurance, financial, and tax issues involved with estate planning
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